Aston Villa did not submit a formal bid for Marseille midfielder Matteo Guendouzi last month, according to their club president Pablo Longoria.
Speculation was rife throughout January about our possible interest in the 23-year-old, as reported by the Express and Star, with Villa boss Unai Emery knowing him well following their stint working together at Arsenal previously.
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However, the transfer window came and went without a move for Guendouzi materialising, and it has now been confirmed by Longoria that Villa did not, nor did any other club, make a formal bid for the French international.
“We’ve not received any bid for Mattéo Guendouzi from Aston Villa or any other club in January,” he is quoted as saying by Fabrizio Romano.
While that doesn’t necessarily rule out our interest in Guendouzi entirely, it’s important insight into the stage at which our possible pursuit reached, that it didn’t get to a point where the two clubs were discussing a deal that resulted in an offer being submitted.
Whether that was because Villa are content to wait until the summer to sign a midfielder, or a touted price-tag from Marseille was enough to put us off or perhaps we simply aren’t pursuing Guendouzi as intensely as suggested in the reports, it doesn’t sound as though it ever came close to happening last month.
The French midfielder has impressed for the Ligue 1 side and he would be a quality addition to the Villa squad should we make a move for him in the summer, but ultimately Emery will have been satisfied with the current options at his disposal given we didn’t move for a midfielder at all.
Alex Moreno and Jhon Duran were our only new signings, and while the likes of Morgan Sanson and Marvelous Nakamba were loaned out until the end of the season, there is likely to be an important reshuffle in the Villa midfield in the summer as Emery continues to stamp his influence and mould the squad into his own.